WJPA Sports

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon scored his NHL-leading 46th goal as the Colorado Avalanche eased by the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-2. Martin Necas scored twice for the Avalanche, who atoned for a lopsided home loss to the Penguins by returning the favor in Pittsburgh. Scott Wedgewood made 27 saves to pick up the victory. Penguins defenseman Kris Letang collected his 800th career point by assisting on Egor Chinakov’s first-period goal, but it wasn’t enough to keep Pittsburgh from losing for the third time in four games. The Penguins played without star forward Evgeni Malkin, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

The NFL is preparing for the possibility of replacement officials in the 2026 season, proposing a rule change for one season that would allow the replay center in New York to correct any “clear and obvious” mistakes by on-field officials in case of a work stoppage. The competition committee released its proposed rule changes for next season, including some small tweaks to the kickoff rule and allowing the replay center to eject players for flagrant acts on plays that were not penalized on the field. The changes will be considered by the owners at next week’s league meetings and would need to be approved by at least 24 of the 32 teams.

North Carolina has parted ways with men’s basketball coach Hubert Davis after five seasons leading the tradition-rich program. The school announced the decision Tuesday night, saying it had made “a leadership change” to end Davis’ tenure as successor to retired Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams. That run featured multiple high points, but also wild swings of results. The final blow was Thursday’s first-round loss to VCU in the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels blew a 19-point lead for the biggest first-round comeback in tournament history.